Winds of Change
by Korrallaries
Summary: AU. Seventeen years after the fall of Avatar Korra, Rohan learns the truth of his past and, along with the new avatar, must journey to Republic City in order to bring balance to a splintered world.
1. Chapter 1

**This is the first chapter of my new Rohan-centric AU. A lot more is explained in the Author's Note at the end of the chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

His earliest memories were always of fire, unbridled and destructive.

Looking back on it now, it made perfect sense. He had been born into the throngs of war, his first few months of existence spent in hiding or on the run. He had always assumed that the screams and cries he remembered were his own, but he now realized that to be only half true.

Rohan sighed, running his hand through short, dark hair. Just an hour ago he had been normal. Well, as normal as an airbender in hiding could be. Taking care of his mother and their farm, and trying to stay out of the spotlight.

But now he knew the truth. He was Rohan, the last airbender. The grandson of Avatar Aang, the man who had stemmed a world war at age twelve.

When the masked visitor had come to the door his mother had been worried, putting Rohan on the defensive. But when the man knocked politely and said something about pai sho, his mother had smiled and let him in, waving Rohan off to go make tea. When he returned with the steaming cups, the man had removed his hood, revealing gray hair and smiling eyes that had seen far too much destruction in their years. And then the stranger had uttered the words that changed his life forever.

"We have found the Avatar."

His mother had froze then, hand still over the pai sho board poised for a move. The piece in her hand-a white lotus, outdated in most modern games-fell and rolled to the ground. "Where is he?" his mother asked, breathless.

"She," the man had responded. "She's in the earth kingdom, not too far from here."

"And you're sure she's the avatar?"

The man had frowned, increasing the etching of wrinkles around his mouth and forehead. "It's the strongest lead we've got in ten years. We used to locate the avatar at birth and reveal their real identity at sixteen, but with the current...stance against bending, you can imagine how difficult it is to gather information on benders. Nobody wants to talk, even to old masters."

"And what does that have to do with me and my son?"

For the first time, the man had turned his head and met Rohan's eyes, and he felt a shiver run down his spine. "My dear, I think it's time you told your son who he really is."

And so, an hour and much talking later, Rohan sat in his room, trying to make sense of it all.

He had a little knowledge of the war that had started in Republic City and spread throughout the world. How could he not? It was the reason he and his mother rarely left their tiny farm, secluded amongst the mountains. They traded only when they needed to, and though Rohan had studied a little in the village, the school there only held classes once a week. History was a banned subject, the current regime always worrying about students trying to regain bending's former glory.

The Equalists had sentries everywhere, and anybody who showed signs of bending was immediately arrested and shipped to the capital of Republic City to be "cleansed." They would return, months later, never quite the same.

Rohan had always known that, in order to keep his bending, he would have to hide it from the world. He didn't know that he also needed to hide it because he was the last airbender alive.

His grandfather was the hero Avatar Aang. He had never formally learned about him, of course, but there were always whispers. An airbender so powerful he defeated the tyrannical Fire Nation at the age of twelve. But his legacy had ended with Avatar Korra, who had perished at the hands of Amon during the uprising of the Equalist Empire.

His father was Tenzin, the airbending council member of Republic City. He had been captured by Amon too, as had his mother and siblings. Until tonight, he didn't know he once had siblings, and the thought made him feel like there was a gaping hole in his chest. Only he and his mother had managed to escape, the rest of his family left for dead in the grip of the Equalist leader.

Rohan sighed again, leaning his head against the window pane. Now he knew why his mother was so much more fearful of the Equalist sentries than anybody else in the area. She thought they would take her only son, the last thing she had left.

He lifted his head up when he heard the door to his room slide open. "Rohan?" His mother tentatively took a step into the room. "Are you alright?"

He drew away from the window and looked over to his mother. She looked tired, and older than he could ever remember seeing her. He noticed the gray streak of hair running next to her left temple, and the lines permanently etched around her mouth and forehead. The face of someone who had seen years of sorrow and despair. How had he never noticed before?

"I'm...okay." Rohan dropped his gaze, and picked at a loose thread on his pants. An earthy brown, standard casual-ware for the Earth Kingdom. "I just wish you had told me sooner."

His mother sighed and walked further into the room, dropping into a threadbare chair next to him. "I know, I was selfish to keep it from you. But you are the only thing I have left in this world, and your happiness always brought me peace. I was going to tell you on your eighteenth birthday, but it seems the Order of the White Lotus beat me to it."

He looked up to meet his mother's eyes and immediately felt any anger replaced with a hollow feeling of sorrow. His poor mother, living through the pain of losing a husband and three children that he never knew. Instinctively, Rohan reached over and wrapped his arms around his mother's shoulders, feeling the slight moisture of tears around her eyes.

"It's okay mom, I'm just sorry this all happened."

She drew back, eyes bright and gleaming with pride for her son. "Oh Rohan, you've grown up to be so brave and noble. Your father would have been so proud."

Rohan felt an odd twinge at the mention of his father, the first time his mother had ever willingly brought up the subject. She must have noticed his discomfort, because she frowned and leaned back, folding her hands in her lap.

"I'm sure you must have more questions," she said, not quite meeting his eyes. "It's been a long time since I have talked about the past, but I will try my best to answer anything you ask."

Rohan didn't have to think. "Tell me about my father."

His mother smiled. "Your father was a kind and powerful man, who was unerringly loyal to his family and his city. He was a just advocate for all his people-benders and non-benders alike. He fought tooth and nail to keep Amon from destroying the city he loved."

"He was there when Amon took power?"

"We all were," she sighed. "It was a terrible time, every bender worrying if they were next on Amon's list. He started with the triads, gaining support from people who had been oppressed by the awful gang violence in Republic City. Then he went for the politicians, who he insisted were corrupt. Then he went for everyone else, and Republic City fell."

Rohan tried to put together the events with what little he knew of history. "How was our family captured? How did we get away, if they didn't?"

Her eyes closed, and Rohan felt guilty for forcing her to relive what must be her most awful memory. But his curiosity outweighed his guilt and he waited for her to answer.

"It's a complicated and long story," she began. "But it started with the Avatar. Korra was just a girl, your age, when she arrived at Republic City to learn airbending. But when Amon started moving forward with his 'revolution,' she ended up right in the middle of it. He wanted to use her-the avatar, the most powerful being on earth-to make a point about his own dark power.

"Tenzin, your father, tried to protect her. He tried to keep the council from taking rash moves against non-bending citizens to subdue the flames of rebellion and anger. But in the end, the council of Republic City fell and Amon used his army of machines to take over the city. We called for backup from the United Forces, but both fleets also fell. The new technology was too strong, too powerful.

"At Tenzin's suggestion, Korra went into hiding. But Amon wanted her, as she was the last thing standing between him and Republic City. So Amon captured us all-Tenzin, me, and all of you children-to lure her out into the open. And it worked." His mother shut her eyes tightly, angrily brushing tears from her cheeks. "The monster captured and used my husband and children as bait, just so he could gain more power.

"When we were captured, you were hardly a day old. We were kept in a prison cell, but he brought out your father and siblings in front of a crowd to take away their bending. He tied them to a platform and I had to watch as he raised them above our heads into the crowd. Once they were raised, I could hear what was happening from the noises above. Korra came to rescue them. She almost succeeded: she freed your father and your siblings and stayed behind to create a diversion for them.

"Your father came and got us, and rushed us all to meet with a White Lotus sentry that was stationed outside. Equalists found us just as we got out. You and I got away, but Tenzin and the children stayed to fight." His mother stopped trying to swipe at the tears, and her voice lost some of its strength. "I begged the children to leave with me, but they had too much of their grandmother in them. The White Lotus took us away, but the rest of our family ended up in the hands of Amon."

Silence descended on the room as Pema finished her story. Rohan blinked, fitting the pieces of the story together. "Did he kill them?" he whispered, not wanting to know the answer.

Pema shut her eyes tightly, a tear escaping and running quickly down the side of her face. "I can only assume so," she said, equally as soft. "Amon doesn't take prisoners. He doesn't need to. He takes away their bending and then releases them, or he doesn't release them at all. Part of his success at gaining support stemmed from his supposed humane technique of subduing 'the enemy'. Some people don't understand how torturous it is to take away somebody's bending."

His entire family, murdered for the sake of equality. It seemed so backward. Rohan frowned. "Wait, what happened to Avatar Korra?"

She frowned. "Nobody knows for certain what happened after Korra was captured. Word spread quickly that Amon took her bending away. But a few months later, we got word in the Earth Kingdom that she was killed." She looked out of the window, a pained look on her face. "Not a week after that, Equalist armies arrived on the Earth Kingdom shores, the White Lotus helped us moved out here to the farm, and you know the rest."

"What exactly is the White Lotus?" Except for the name of an outdated pai sho piece, the name was unfamiliar to him.

She smiled at that. "The Order of the White Lotus is an old society, almost as old as the avatar incarnation. They are keepers of history and information, and try to protect the avatar and help keep balance in the world. They were a secret until your grandfather's time, and have gone in hiding again since the fall of Avatar Korra. Master Howl is a member-he was the one who helped us escape Republic City in the first place."

As if summoned, the White Lotus member knocked softly on the door frame at the mention of his name.

"Madam Pema, if I may," he began, looking distinctly uncomfortable at interrupting. "I need to return to the compound soon, but I have something to ask of you and your son."

She frowned. "What is it?"

The White Lotus member, Howl, coughed. "It is more directed at your son, my lady."

Rohan narrowed his eyes and turned his attention to the man in the doorway. "What could you possibly want with me?"

The sentry sighed and leaned against the doorframe. It seemed everybody these days was simply tired of all the fighting. "You are the last airbender, Rohan. We need your help to train the Avatar, and we believe that she in turn can help you connect to some of the culture and past of your people. We are asking you and your mother to relocate to the White Lotus compound to begin training."

Rohan's jaw hung open as the offer was voiced. "You want me to teach airbending? I hardly know airbending! I've never been trained myself!"

Howl nodded, as if expect this answer. "We know. If there were any other options, we would have brought both you and the avatar to train with them. But you are the only airbender left, and we need to train the Avatar in the four elements as soon as we can. Amon's regime will only spread, and without the Avatar we may be powerless to stop it."

Rohan pinched the bridge of his nose. He had trained himself in airbending the best he could while in hiding from anti-bending sentries. But all of his talent was self taught, and he knew there was much he didn't know. "How, exactly, am I supposed to teach airbending if I hardly know it myself?"

The sentry nodded. "That's where we believe the Avatar can help you. An avatar can communicate with their past lives, which include your grandfather Avatar Aang. If she is able to speak with him in the spirit world, she may be able to relay information to you about airbending."

"So you want me to learn airbending techniques from my grandfather, relayed through an Avatar in training, and then teach them back to said Avatar?"

Howl nodded, looking apologetic. "Yes, that's about right." He shrugged. "We have other information for you-old scrolls from the former Air Temples, oral stories passed down through generations. But we still believe the best way for you to learn airbending would be through the Avatar."

Rohan sat down heavily, the sudden influx of information starting to catch up with him. He looked up at the sentry, and the back over at his mother. "What do you think, mom?"

His mother stood behind him and gave him a watery smile. "I believe you should go, my son. You are an airbender, and it's in your blood to seek your own journey and your own path." She closed her eyes tightly. "But I will not be going with you."

He leapt to his feet. "What? Why not!" He swept his hand towards the window. "What will you do on the farm? You won't be safe here!"

His mother chuckled, and put a hand on his shoulder. "I am not as defenseless as you think, Rohan. I am also a non-bender, and not in any real danger from this occupation. A long time has passed since I was an air acolyte, I doubt I'm going to be tracked down." She squeezed his shoulder and let go. "As for the farm, a young couple from town have had their eye on it for a while. I believe I will hand it over to them, and retire to Omashu."

"But there are Equalist sentries all over Omashu!"

Pema leveled a gaze on her son that he immediately recognized as the "stop-talking-back-at-your-mother" look. "Fine," he pouted, somewhat mollified.

Howl chuckled in the background. "I believe he gets that pout from you, Pema."

His mother laughed, a sound Rohan couldn't remember hearing for a long time. "I suppose you're right. He certainly didn't get it from his father. He did, however, inherit his rather hot headed protective streak."

Rohan scowled. "Stop talking about me like I'm not here!"

The distant sound of a van passing on the highway sobered the brief humorous moment in the room. Pema sighed. "When will you be leaving?"

"I will be heading back to the compound as soon as I can," the man dressed in blue responded. "We need to return under cover of darkness." He turned to Rohan. "Will you be accompanying me, young master?"

Rohan felt uncomfortable being addressed as a young master. He looked at his mother and then at the sentry. "

"Good," he nodded. "We will leave before dawn. Pack only what you need, because soon we will be travelling to Ba Sing Se."

"Why?"

"Why else?" the elder White Lotus sentry smiled wryly. "To pick up the Avatar."

* * *

**A/N:**

**I'm not usually one to go for AU's.**

**I swear, I'm not. I'm about as canon compliant as an author/fan can be. When my OTP didn't come true in ATLA I immersed myself post-finale canon compliant fiction written on both sides of the shipping war.**

**But this one idea, this bug, really bit me and I just had to start writing it out. And it's turning into an epic.**

**It's based on one silly little thought. _What if Korra and Mako didn't defeat Amon in the arena, and Pema and the baby were the only ones to escape as Republic City fell?_**

**It's a pivotal change, and opens the door for so many possibilities. A world at war with itself, a repressed society of benders, another "last airbender", a new Avatar, a journey through past and present to bring balance to the world.**

**Call it an homage. Not a rewrite, but a continuation of the story in a parallel universe where the conflict is kept alive a bit longer. I loved the finale for Korra, and this is my way of keeping the world alive until 2013, using cues from both ATLA and LoK. A serious, somewhat dark premise, spaced out by quirky characters and amusing dialogue.**

**And yes, I had to add in Howl as the White Lotus member. I suck at coming up with names, so when I needed a name for him I couldn't help but use the one that our amazing fandom brought to life. This incarnation of Howl was stationed on air temple island, and did not have any relationship or friendship with Korra, though he was present for the war.**


	2. Chapter 2

The Satomobile was uncomfortable and stuffy, and didn't handle the rough roads of the Earth Kingdom very well. Not like that mattered, Rohan scowled. It had the Equalist stamp of approval, which meant that, once Amon had taken over, the machines from Future Industries wiped out any competing companies.

Howl steered the satomobile with a practised ease that gave Rohan the impression that he had made this trip many times before. He wondered how many times the White Lotus had to investigate rumors of the Avatar, or what other duties they had. Since bending went underground, there wasn't much information about a resistance movement to the Equalists or a plan to fight back.

The landscape slowly gave way to paved roads, and the van slowed down to a stop in front of a looming building with dangerous looking electric gates in front of it. On either side of the building, a sparking fence stretched into the distance, protecting the city limits of Ba Sing Se from any monsters trying to get in.

Or any people trying to get out.

A masked guard made his way to the stopped vehicle. His uniform bore the insignia of the Equalists on his left arm, and he wore an electric glove on his right hand.

"Please state your name and business in Ba Sing Se," the man said in a tired tone. Rohan briefly wondered what he looked like under the mask, if such weariness was showing on his face.

"My name is Chin and this is my son, Lee," Howl replied without any hesitation. "We are here to sell grain and herbs." He gestured to the back seat, which was filled with the latest crops from Rohan's home.

"I see. We will need to search your vehicle, sir." The guard was joined by another Equalist, who both went to the back of the van to open the trunk. They overturned several boxes of herbs, and one of the guards pulled out a knife and sliced open a bag, letting grain spill out in a wave onto the ground.

"Hey!" Rohan cried. "Those are our crops you-"

Howl put out a hand to stop him, and Rohan bit his tongue. The Equalists spared him a brief glance before continuing their investigation. A few minutes later, they stepped back and waved the van through.

"That is absurd," Rohan grumbled as they drove away. "They can't just treat us that way."

"Unfortunately, they can treat us any way they like," Howl replied. "They are in control of the city, and of nearly the entire Earth Kingdom. The Fire Nation fell years ago, and the only stronghold left is the Northern Water Tribe."

Rohan frowned. "If the Northern Water Tribe is still fighting, why can't they help the rest of us?"

"They are holding out for the right time." The White Lotus sentry's reply was short and cryptic, and closed the door for any more of the questions running through Rohan's head. He sat back in his seat and crossed his arms across his chest, frowning.

"Where are we going, anyway? Ba Sing Se is a large city."

"One of the outer rings," the man's tone was casual, but his tight grip on the steering wheel gave away his anxiety. "Our lead pointed us to a small merchant shop on the outskirts of the city. We will go there at dusk."

* * *

The shop was small and unassuming, and looked like it sold mostly general wares. Flashlights, gloves, ice boxes, building tools. All things that had grown in popularity since bending was deemed illegal.

The outer ring of the city was quiet after the sunset, most people disappearing into houses or hiding in secluded alleyways. The main streets were deserted, save a few elephant rats sneaking food out of trash cans.

Red and black Equalist flags dominated every large intersection, and Rohan felt a sense of gloom just by looking at them.

Howl knocked politely on the door to the left of the shop, which looked like it lead to a small apartment above the store.

"Of all the times..." a grumbling voice could be heard behind the door, along with the footsteps of somebody descending the stairs. The door flung open to reveal an older woman, dark hair tossed up into a haphazard bun, with one hand on her hip and an impatient expression on her face.

"Excuse us for the late hour. Are you Miss Yumi?"

The woman eyed him warily. "Yes." She crossed her arms in front of her and stood defensively, taking up the whole doorway to the house. Rohan wondered what dangers the citizens of Ba Sing Se had to face to cause every citizen to act so paranoid.

"Does your family own this fine establishment?" Rohan's companion swept an arm at the shop and Rohan had to hide a snicker. The store was a far cry from a fine establishment.

"We do. What exactly do you need?"

Howl bowed politely, and Rohan quickly followed suit. "I do not mean to intrude, but I was hoping to be able to speak with your daughter."

Yumi's posture didn't change, but her eyes flashed dangerously at the mention of her daughter. "What reason do you have for seeking out my daughter?"

Howl swallowed, and Rohan recognized the nervous twitch in his hand. He was trying to find the right words. "We believe your daughter may be a uniquely skilled individual, and we were hoping to talk to her about-"

That was apparently the wrong thing to say. The woman's muscles tensed and she took a step back into the apartment, one hand on the door. "No you may not! I don't know who you are, but you have no business to try and come here in the middle of the night and-"

"And what business do you have with me?" A new voice filled the cramped hallway, and the woman's eyes widened with shock. She pulled her hand off the door and turned slightly to the newcomer.

"Seina, don't you dare-"

"Mama, I believe it's time for us to accept this." The voice belonged to a young woman about Rohan's age. She brushed her stuttering mother gently to the side and stood in front of the doorway, shielding her. She had straight medium brown hair brushing past her shoulders and wore similar clothing to Rohan's, cotton pants and a shirt in brown and green. Her hair was a lighter shade than normally found in the Earth Kingdom, and Rohan wondered if perhaps her father had Fire Nation lineage.

But her eyes were tell-tale Earth Kingdom green, and right now they were staring right at him. "What do you want?"

"Don't talk to them!" Her mother wailed from behind her. "They want to take you away from me!"

The girl's green eyes narrowed. "Equalists? Where are your uniforms?"

"No!" Howl forced out, clearly trying to regain a handle on the situation. "We are not with the Equalists, we-"

"If you're not Equalists than what do you want? Money? Are you trying to blackmail us? I will willingly walk into the hands of the Equalists myself before I let you swindle my family."

"Seina," the older lady cried softly, tugging on her daughters sleeve. "Please, leave this be."

"No, mother!" she said. "I will fight to keep them from hurting you."

"We are not trying to blackmail-" Howl began again.

"Then why are you _here_?" she scowled, subtly shifting back into a bending stance. Howl stiffened.

"Seina-"

"Miss, please, we are not here to-"

"STOP IT!" Rohan yelled, speaking out for the first time. City inhabitants were even more paranoid than his neighbors in their small village! "We are not here to kidnap you or blackmail you," he huffed. "We are here because we are _like _you. Look!"

He thrust his hands out, creating a small vortex of wind between his palms. The girl's eyes widened in surprise, and her mother gasped and put both hands over her mouth.

"Are you..._airbending_?" the girl-Seina-demanded in a low whisper.

Rohan pulled his hands back and nodded, and beside him Howl hung his head in defeat.

"Please, may we come inside?"

Both mother and daughter nodded mutely, stepping back into the apartment and allowing them to pass. Seina stayed behind to close the door as her mother led them up a narrow set of stairs. Rohan had to duck at the top to keep from hitting his head on a low hanging doorway.

"Please excuse my rudeness," she said as they entered a small but comfortable living room. "The Equalists are combing the city day and night, making sure that our children are properly 'cleansed.'" She spat the last word out with disgust.

"We completely understand," Howl replied. "The Equalists have needed to restart their search for benders since a new generation was born under their watch."

Yumi sighed and folded into a seated position next to the short table, gesturing for Howl and Rohan to do the same. "I know, but it has made us so worried. We had been lucky to have her escape their notice the first time around. They took my bending, but she was too young to be of worry." She spread her hands and lowered her eyes. "I would give anything to keep my daughter from receiving the same torture, but she is too stubborn to let me protect her."

Howl put his hand consolingly over the woman's outstretched arm. "You have been very brave, my lady."

She gave a long sigh and looked back up. "What _does _bring an older gentleman and an airbender to my door?"

Howl cleared his throat uncomfortably. "We are here because of your daughter's bending," he answered, ignoring her remark about airbenders.

"What about her bending?" she asked worriedly. "Has she endangered herself in some way?" The stairs creaked, announcing Seina's entrance into the room, and her mother turned to her with fire in her eyes. "Seina! I told you to stop sneaking off to that teacher, it's too dangerous!"

"Mother!" she snapped back. "I can't just sit around and do nothing! I've been very careful!"

"Not careful enough, apparently! Your earthbending has been noticed!"

"Please, my lady," Howl interrupted. "But it is not her earthbending that has gotten her noticed."

Yumi looked back at him as her daughter's eyes went wide. "What do you mean?"

He lowered his eyes and said the next phrase so softly Rohan had to concentrate to hear it.

"It is her firebending."

The older lady gasped and put both hands over her mouth. Seina stumbled back a couple of steps, resting shakily against a wall before sliding down to sit on the ground.

"I thought...I thought it was a fluke," she said, voice trembling.

It troubled Rohan to see the girl who had, moments earlier, fearlessly stood up to them now sitting terrified on the ground. How bad had it been in the city, if she was so terrified of the idea of being a uniquely powerful bender, a spiritual link between worlds?

"Do you think you could do it again?" Howl asked the girl softly. From his coat he pulled out a small matchbook and lit a match, holding it out to her.

"I...I think so," some of the earlier stubbornness returned, and she stood up warily. She took a casual bending stance and drew a deep breath, closing her eyes. Carefully, she moved her hands forward and back, almost as if beckoning the flame closer to her.

The small fire on the match jumped and then, without warning, grew into a long stretch of flame that soared into Seina's outstretched palms. She held it there for a minute, eyes wide with disbelief, before leaping backwards as if she were burned. The flame extinguished the minute she jumped away, but her haunted look remained.

"Oh my..." her mother said, one hand on her chest and eyes wide as tea saucers. "This can't be so..."

Seina slumped to the ground again, staring at her hands as if they were foreign objects.

"I'm afraid it is," Howl said. "Your daughter is the Avatar."

* * *

**A/N: And so ends Chapter 2, with some pretty important characters introduced! This story is going to update a bit slowly for a while until I can get a good buffer or chapters, but hopefully I won't keep you guys waiting too long until Chapter 3.**

**Reviews and constructive criticism are always appreciated :)**


	3. Chapter 3

She wasn't anything like what he expected.

As Howl and Yumi sat in the living room discussing Seina's avatar training, Rohan had snuck away to a side room to give them some privacy. He sat, peering out of the window onto the deserted street below, thinking about how much had changed in such a short period of time.

He was the last airbender. He was teaming up with an untrained Avatar in a city completely oppressed by Equalists. And for what purpose? He still wasn't quite so sure.

"So...you're an airbender?" The quiet voice snapped him out of his thoughts and he turned around. She stood in the doorway, a small smile on her lips. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

"You didn't scare me." Rohan's voice came out more petulant than he would have liked. "And yes, I am. Why?"

She raised and lowered a shoulder, moving further into the room to take a seat across from him. "I've never met one before, I thought they were all dead."

Rohan frowned, not used to hearing the information he had only learned two days ago tossed around so casually. "Apparently not all of them."

She gave him an assessing look. "If you don't mind me asking, who are your parents? Were you related to Avatar Aang?"

Of course she would be interested in his relation to a previous Avatar. He nodded. "I'm his grandson. My father was killed in the original battle for Republic City."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It happened a long time ago."

An awkward silence descended on them, and he turned to look out of the window once more. "Do you think your mother will let you come train with us?"

She shrugged. "It doesn't matter what she says, I am going to come train with you. If I'm..the avatar...then I can't just sit around waiting for something to happen." She stumbled over the word as if it were foreign. She stuck out her tongue. "It all seems so surreal."

"Tell me about it."

They fell into a more companionable silence, listening to the exchange of words from the other room. Yumi's voice raised and lowered with her emotions, while Howl's remained the same level-comforting and pleading at the same time.

"Where is your father?" Rohan asked before he could stop himself. He hurriedly looked up to make sure he hadn't offended her or upset her in any way, and was relieved to see that she was smiling.

"He's traveling," she said, with fondness in her voice. "He has family in the Fire Nation, so he spends some time over on one of the colonies to bring back wares for the store." Her eyes lowered and her voice took on a more somber tone. "I worry what will happen now that I won't be here to help out."

"She is _not going _and that's _final_!"

Seina's head snapped up. "_Mother_," she growled. "I am going, there's no way I can stay in Ba Sing Se if I'm the Avatar. I'll put us all in danger."

From the other room, Yumi turned around to face her daughter. "But Seina, if something were to happen to you..."

"I have to, mom," the younger girl interrupted. "I can't stay here, you know I can't."

The older woman hung her head in defeat, rubbing a hand tiredly along her brow. "You always were too stubborn for your own good," she mumbled, turning back to the table. "Very well," she said to the White Lotus sentry. "You take good care of her, and you make sure she sends a telegram every now and again so I know she's okay."

"Thank you. I know how hard this must be for you..."

"No, you don't." Her sharp words cut him off, and her hands gripped the table. "You go tonight, before I can change my mind." She stood up slowly, her eyes landing on her daughter. "Seina, my dear..."

Rohan watched the girl across from him stand up and walk into her mothers arms. "I know, mom. I love you, and I'll be safe. I promise." She sniffed, burying her head into her mother's shoulder. "Tell dad bye for me, okay?"

"I will." Seina pulled back from the embrace, and her mother looked at her with obvious pride in her eyes. Rohan looked down, reminded uncomfortably of his own goodbye to his mother only two days prior.

"I always knew you were destined for great things." There was a twinkle in the older lady's eyes now. "Go, bring balance to the world." She looked out of the window, at a large black and red flag looming ominously outside on the street. "It sure needs you."

The two teenagers and the White Lotus guard left two hours later, carrying two small bags of clothes and supplies. They kept their heads down on the now completely darkened street, careful to avoid the attention of any Equalist guards stationed on the walls.

Being out after dark was not specifically forbidden by the new Equalist government, but it was an uncommon activity that often drew unwanted attention. Most citizens with business after hours would use a sanctioned Satomobile, not skulk around the sidewalks on foot.

Howl had left their Satomobile van parked in a quiet alleyway a few blocks away from the shop. They kept to the shadows, edging around the roads close to the tightly packed buildings. Howl led the way, with Rohan and Seina following closely behind. Rohan could hear his heart beating in his ears.

When they reached the alleyway, Howl held out a hand to stop them. He peered around the corner, and Rohan saw the muscles in his back stiffen. Rohan put a hand carefully on the building next to him and leaned around the White Lotus guard to see what was going on.

When he got a clear view of the alley, he gasped in shock and anger. Three masked Equalist guards were ransacking their van, slashing open bags of grain and throwing boxes of herbs everywhere. The van's doors were all wrenched open, and the trunk looked like it had a crowbar taken to it.

"What is it?" Seina whispered from behind him.

"Equalists," Howl responded, ushering both teenagers back away from the alley. "We have to move, we can't use the van to leave. We'll have to find another way out of the city."

As they frantically retraced their steps away from the Equalists, Rohan cast an angry glance back at the alleyway. "How did they find us?"

"The van isn't an officially sanctioned Satomobile," Howl responded in a low voice. "It's difficult for the White Lotus to obtain vehicles, since most of us are officially registered as dead. Some of our satomobiles are stolen, others are scavenged from Future Industry lots before they are shipped out. Since the Equalists keep a list of registered license plates, it's easy for them to spot ones that are not officially distributed."

Rohan hadn't thought about how hard it must be for the White Lotus members to get a Satomobile. He knew that they only shipped them to official Equalist approved businesses and citizens in good standing.

"Citizens in good standing" seemed to mean more and more "never had benders in your family" these days.

"Then how are we going to get out of here?" Rohan wasn't used to the larger city, and he was starting to panic at the thought of being trapped on the inside of the sparking fences.

"I know how we can get out," Seina replied, startling both her companions. She gave them a lopsided smile, which gave her the appearance of being at ease even though Rohan was sure she should be terrified. "Come on!"

She led them a few blocks further out of the lower ring, bringing them uncomfortably close to the wall and its accompanying Equalist guards. She turned them down an unmarked alley, bringing them out of the packed streets into-

"A menagerie?" Rohan asked, surprised and confused at the expanse of green extending out from the heavily populated city. Large enclosures and locked stables lined the sides of the field, which stretched out beyond the lower ring into the city outskirts.

"The official Ba Sing Se menagerie," she corrected, leading them to a set of stables on the left. "King Kuei commissioned the menagerie after his beloved bear died, hoping to bring joy to all of the citizens of Ba Sing Se."

"I'm surprised the Equalists didn't condemn it," Rohan replied. The three of them stopped at the stables, and she held out a hand to silence them.

She pulled out a pin from her pocket, squinting at a complicated looking lock one of the stables. She knelt down in front of the door, carefully inserting the pin into the lock and moving her hand slowly back and forth. Rohan heard the soft click of the lock popping open, and he stood silently with the White Lotus sentry as they watched her disappear into the stable.

This enclosure was large, and had barbed wire circling around the top of the fence. Rohan briefly wondered what sort of huge, dangerous creature was hiding behind that door. Badger moles? Catgators?

He was not, however, expecting the animal she brought out of the heavily locked cage.

"A shirshu." His voice came out flat and emotionless. Of course, it couldn't be something useful, like an ostrich horse or even an armadillo-lion, which would at least give them some fighting power against the Equalists. "How do you expect us to escape the city with a shirshu?"

Seina glared at him as she patted the creatures rough skinned back. "I'll have you know that Vera is an incredible traveler, and she can carry more than five times as much weight as one ostrich horse."

Rohan choked in disbelief. "You want us to _ride _that thing? Out of the city? Are you kidding me?"

She put a hand on her hip and glared at him. "Do you have any better ideas? Given your lack of planning I think this is our best option!"

Rohan opened his mouth to retort but Howl stepped in front of him before the words left his mouth. "The avatar is right. This is our best option. We cannot afford to stay here until sunrise, now that the Equalists have found our van. They will be looking for us." He looked at the creature. "How, exactly, do you expect us to ride that?"

"With this," Seina smiled and lifted up a saddle, which was little more than a glorified blanket. She secured it around the Shirshu's back and hopped on with practised ease.

Howl motioned for Rohan to climb up first, so he carefully put his foot in the saddle and lifted himself behind Seina on the Shirshu. He felt the rumbling of the creature's breath beneath his legs and suppressed a shudder. Howl climbed on the saddle behind them, Seina said something under her breath that he couldn't quite catch, and suddenly they were off.

Rohan immediately put his hands down on the saddle next to steady himself as the Shirshu climbed to a steady run. He felt the wind rushing past his face and was suddenly glad that Seina hadn't brought out an ostrich horse. He watched his surroundings as the menagerie faded away into a large field, with the fence around the city limits looming far in the distance.

"You know," Howl yelled up from the back of the saddle. "There aren't many documented instances of humans bonding with Shirshus. I can only think of one."

"Ah, you mean the bounty hunter," Seina replied. Rohan was glad that she kept facing forwards, even as she directed her words behind her. "I'm sure the legendary June had a much tougher time taming her Shirshu than I did." She patted the creatures gigantic hide. "Vera is a city animal; she couldn't survive in the wild since she doesn't have the poisonous, numbing bite that most Shirshu's have."

"She still looks dangerous enough," Rohan muttered.

"She's tough, and she can still track better than any other animal in the Earth Kingdom," was the reply.

"What did the Equalists think when you bonded with her?" Howl asked.

"They didn't know," she said. "I worked at the menagerie as a part time caretaker around my shop duties. Vera is usually confined to her pen, so they didn't see as she started to get more accustomed to me."

Howl let out a thoughtful hum. "Odd that you would chose a Shirshu for a spirit animal. I don't think I've heard of that happening before."

"A spirit animal?"

"All avatars have a spirit animal," he responded. "An animal guide they've bonded with, associated with their primary element. Kyoshi had an armadillo-lion, and the earth avatar before her had a badger mole."

She shrugged again. "Suits me. Hold on, here's the fence!"

Rohan tensed as the sparking fence came closer and closer. The shirshu leapt and his stomach sank uncomfortably. As the creature landed, all three passengers were thrown up to the front of the saddle. Rohan drew himself up, but was still pressed up against the back of the avatar. He blushed at the close contact and he could feel her rumbling laugh.

Rohan chanced a glance behind them and saw the fence disappearing into the distance. The towers of Equalist guards remained dark, and he hoped that meant that they weren't spotted.

"Where to?" Seina yelled, pulling up the reins and guiding the giant creature slightly to the right.

"We head east," Howl responded. "Our compound should be a short ride from here. With luck we will make it to by sunrise."


	4. Chapter 4

_Step, turn, pull, sweep. _Rohan repeated the motions in his head as he tried to make his feet comply. _Step, pull, turn..._

He stumbled suddenly and barely caught his balance in time, scowling at his inability to get the simplest of moves correctly. When Howl and the three other White Lotus members in residence had placed the short airbending scroll in front of him, he had expected it to be easy to replicate. After all, the moves were not particularly difficult, it was just a shifting of feet and coordination of his arms and hands!

But, even after practicing for two hours, he was still unable to perform the simplest of maneuvers on the scroll. When he got the footwork and forms right, the air around him didn't seem to want to comply. And when he felt at one with the air surrounding him, he forgot the steps!

He sat down heavily on the crude, wooden bench in the practice room and scowled, blowing angry air out of one side of his mouth. If he wasn't the last airbender alive and trying to learn on his own, he surely wouldn't be having this much trouble.

It didn't help that he was trapped in a stuffy, underground maze that smelled strongly of mold and must, either.

When they had arrived at the White Lotus base the previous night, Rohan had been largely unimpressed with the setup. When Howl had first mentioned the word "compound," he had expected large, intricate tunnels leading to an extravagant underground lair. Perhaps with fortifications and and huge rooms, spreading out into the mountainside.

Instead, they weaved through a narrow labyrinth that let out into a modest underground space dimly lit by flickering lamps. Small, twisting holes in the ceiling were lined with glass and mirrors, reflecting a little sunlight into the camp during the day. There was one large, central room that looked like it was specifically designed for practicing bending, bordered with intricate drawings and ancient artifacts that looked like they were collected from each of the four nations. But there were only three hallways branching off of it, leading to six cramped bedrooms, two medium sized training rooms, a kitchen and a bathroom.

"Is this the main camp for the White Lotus?" Rohan had asked when they first began descending the tunnels. The Shirshu had been set up comfortably in a series of caves closer to the surface, where a couple broken down Satomobiles also presided.

"No, this is just one of four in the Earth Kingdom. We're slightly north of Serpent's Pass, outside of Ba Sing Se." Howl had looked even older in the lamplight, the flickering candle finding all the crevices in his face. "We have two other bases outside of Omashu and Makapu. Our largest headquarters is hidden in the central Earth Kingdom, in the desert. We also have two stations in the Fire Nation, and one up on the Northern Water Tribe."

"What about in Republic City?"

"Republic City has been under strict quarantine shortly after Amon took power," was the tired response. "Equalists strictly control who gets in and out, and we haven't been able to communicate with the island since the fall of Avatar Korra."

Seina had shifted uncomfortably beside him at the mention of her predecessor, but at that moment they took a sharp turn to enter the White Lotus compound.

Howl had relaxed visibly once they set foot on the base, pressing a button to slide the wall closed behind him. "Here we are!" His voice was a touch too cheerful as he made a grand, sweeping motion with one arm. "What do you think?"

"It's...underground!" Rohan had stuttered at first, trying to find half truths that wouldn't offend the older man. "And...quaint! It looks very comfortable."

Seina snickering beside him told him that he hadn't been quite successful in masking his initial distaste for the place. It was easy enough for her to laugh, he had thought glumly. She was a native earthbender, she practically thrived being underground! He had seen her stroking the walls of the earthy tunnel fondly as they descended down into the ground-which he had found mildly disturbing-but he hadn't laughed at her then!

Rohan sighed and ran a hand through his hair, pulling up the airbending scroll one more time to go over the figures. He was a creature of the air, he thought despondently, it wasn't his fault he couldn't learn airbending fifty meters under the ground. One night in this place with cramped rooms and thin walls, and he was already going crazy!

A soft knock on the door startled him out of his reverie and had him scrambling to his feet and into a bending stance. The two green eyes that met him were sparkling with laughter, and it took him a second to process who stood in front of him.

"Howl wants us both in the main atrium to talk about strategy," she said, one hand on her hip and mouth twitching up in laughter. "Let's go, jumpy."

She sauntered out of the room and Rohan reluctantly followed, eyes focusing on the messy bun on the back of her head. Rohan was usually good at dealing with people-he had some easy friendships within his village and his mother had always sent him to the traders to get the best deals-but he couldn't quite understand the earthbender in front of him. She was proud and stubborn-she had offered to turn herself in to the Equalists to protect her family for goodness sake! But one moment she was laughing and the next she was silent, apparently deep in thought. There seemed to be much more to her, but he couldn't quite get a handle on what.

She however, could apparently read him like a book. His mother had always told him that he wore his emotions on his sleeve, but it hadn't quite bothered him until now.

"Fidgety, aren't you?" Her voice echoed off the thin walls, reminding him of the canyons he used to visit as a child. For a moment he was back there-small, carefree, and feeling completely connected to the wind currents whipping around his hair and clothes. Rohan closed his eyes and tried to capture that feeling. It would certainly help him while he tried to survive underground.

"Just prepared," he shot back. The earthbender chuckled in response and he frowned. "We're all trapped like prairie-rabbits down here. It's not natural."

"I think it was clever to build the base underground. I happen to like it." Rohan couldn't see her face, but he imagined her sticking her nose up in the air. He snickered.

"Of course you do, you're like a badgermole with an infinite supply of dirt."

"Are you calling me dirty?"

"I'm calling you insane!"

"Avatar. Rohan." Howl's voice was low but commanding as they entered the atrium. Seina immediately shut her mouth and arranged her face in a neutral expression, and Rohan ground his teeth. The girl was infuriating!

The two teenagers carefully took a seat at the low table across from the four White Lotus members. Howl was immediately across from Rohan, and to his right was an Earthbender who had introduced herself as Penga. He was embarrassed to realize he had already forgot the names of the firebender and waterbender in residence, but once again Howl came to his rescue.

"Hanook, Reika, please get the map," Howl addressed the firebender and waterbender to his left. The surly looking waterbender rose up, his twin braided dark hair sweeping behind him like two leech-eels. The firebender followed silently, helping him retrieve a large piece of parchment and a transparent drawing, rolled up tight and held together by a twisted wire.

Once the map was smoothed out across the table, Rohan recognized it as a map of the four nations. Ba Sing Se stretched across the east of the Earth Kingdom, and Omashu and the island of Republic City dotted the west.

"We have just gotten updated information from the outpost near Makapu," Howl said, carefully holding the transparent scroll in his hands. Rohan could see red and black markings through the sheer material, but couldn't make out what was on it. He looked over the table at the two teenagers. "How much do you know about the Battle of Republic City and the Equalist Uprising?"

Seina's eyebrows knitted together. "We're here to have a history lesson?"

Howl nodded, ignoring the incredulous look on the girl's face. "To bring the greatest advantage in battle, it is best to know everything you can about your enemy." With that, he unfurled the transparent scroll and placed it carefully on top of the map. Black and red images clustered together, overlaying themselves on top of old markings on the original map. When he realized what it was, Rohan gasped, and he felt Seina stiffen next to him.

Images of Equalist flags criss-crossed over the entire map, clustering around larger cities but extending even into the farthest depths of the Earth Kingdom. Howl brought out two ink pots, carefully adding two flags to the center of the map.

"I had no idea." Rohan breathed, eyes still fixated on the map in front of him. He knew the Equalists had spread far into the Earth Kingdom and had completely taken over the Fire Nation, but to see it in front of his own eyes was chilling. He felt like somebody had dumped a bucket of cold water down the back of his shirt and clobbered him on the head at the same time.

"This can't be right." Seina's voice was soft. "My mother said that the smaller cities and towns were still holding strong against the Equalists."

"Perhaps when Ba Sing Se fell, that was true." The firebender spoke for the first time, and her low, musical voice didn't quite mask the coiling of energy and power underneath the surface. Rohan could feel her breathing and movements disturbing the air around her. "When was the last time you had new information? You think the Equalists will let that sort of news inside Ba Sing Se?"

Seina frowned and looked down at her hands, wrinkles etching into her forehead as she seemed to focus very hard on the table in front of her. "I don't know."

Howl leaned forward with a determined look on his face, but his voice was comforting. "What was Ba Sing Se like, when you were growing up there?"

"It was very...controlled. Our schools didn't teach any history before the Equalist Revolution, and bending was completely forbidden. Many of my classmates discovered their bending in school, and they were taken away to Ba Sing Se for 'field trips' to cleanse them of such impurity." Seina's voice grew softer, and Rohan glimpsed for the first time a vulnerability underneath her tightly controlled demeanor. She was scared, she was just good at hiding it.

It unnerved him, because he recognized that same fear in himself. He briefly felt bad for bickering with her nearly constantly since they arrived at the compound, but banished the thought when Howl started talking again.

"Did you learn earthbending in Ba Sing Se?"

"I did, I snuck off to a master who taught the few of us who were lucky enough to keep our bending a secret. I studied under him for five years, once my parents couldn't help me control my bending anymore." Her eyes lowered. "I hope he's okay. Ho Tun is a big guy, but the Equalists are ruthless when they find someone breaking their rules."

The earthbender-Penga-perked up for the first time. "Did you say Ho Tun?"

Seina's despondent look vanished almost instantaneously. "Do you know him?"

"We were both students together at Toph Bei Fong's metalbending academy. We were part of her very first class." The older woman put a hand in front of her mouth to stifle a laugh, but her eyes still smiled. "I think she got very frustrated with us."

"Ho Tun knew how to metalbend?" The avatar's voice was filled with awe. "Even I didn't know that, and I was his oldest student." Her eyes snapped up, and she eagerly leaned across the table, palms pressing into the sides of the bench. "You know how to metalbend? Will you teach me?"

Penga nodded. "I will teach you everything in my power. You will need to master earthbending first, and then you will start learning the new elements in order. Earth, fire, air, then water."

"That is so cool!"

Howl coughed, looking slightly put off by how the conversation went off track. "We will discuss the avatar's bending training later. First, we must continue the explanation of the first Equalist uprisings."

Seina sat back, her mouth twisting into a slight pout that only Rohan could see. It reminded him of his mother for some reason, and he had to battle the wave of homesickness that threatened to overcome him like a tsunami.

"What do we need to know about the Equalist War?" he asked instead, focusing on the map instead of the empty feeling in his gut.

"It's the Equalist Revolution, not the Equalist War," Howl said sternly. "A war can be bloodier and more damaging, but it is also far easier to battle a war than a revolution. A war has sides and clear principles."

He sighed, and Rohan wondered for the first time what sort of horrors he had seen in Republic City. Whatever happened there, it had destroyed his family, overthrew some of the most powerful benders in the world, and sparked world domination. It couldn't have been good.

"A revolution is not a war," Howl continued. "A revolution is spurred from people, not monarchs or politicians. A revolution is not clear cut-it has good points and bad points. A revolution gives people the idea that the ends always justify the means. Even if the means are the mass genocide of an entire people."

"I thought they just removed their bending..." Rohan started, but couldn't quite finish his sentence. Howl levelled a stare at him.

"You know better than I do how integral bending is to oneself. Did you know anybody who was taken away to Republic City to be 'cleansed'?"

Rohan didn't have to answer. Howl knew that he did.

Howl sighed. "That was the problem. The Equalists splintered an already uneasy world by using what they said was a 'humane' treatment. Benders who disagreed were oppressing non-benders, and non-benders simply didn't understand how hard it was to lose part of oneself." His face darkened. "They arrived on the shores of the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom with this message, and it spread like wildfire. They didn't conquer a nation, they took over kingdoms at war with themselves. They used their message to start civil war, and walked in when it was done to pick up the pieces."

Seina looked like she was about to protest, but he held up a hand. "It wasn't always that easy, of course. Some larger cities still put up a fight." He looked at the avatar then. "I know Ba Sing Se fought valiantly, but you must understand that their numbers were already greatly reduced by internal disagreements. WIth those disadvantages, the cities were still no match for the mechatanks and electric weapons of the Equalists."

"What are we going to do, then?" Rohan looked at the map and felt a sense of hopelessness at the sight. How were they supposed to reverse the damage of a nearly twenty year revolution and oppression?

The waterbender, Hanook, spoke then. "We still have a stronghold in the Northern Water Tribe. Turns out an island built of and completely surrounded by water is more than a match for their electrical tanks." His smirk made him look younger, and Rohan tentatively smiled back. "We are waiting for a strategic advantage, and then we will mobilize an attack."

"What sort of strategic advantage? An attack where?"

"Well," Howl spoke again, looking distinctly uncomfortable. "Our strategic advantage is you. Both of you."

Rohan felt his jaw drop in disbelief. Beside him, he heard Seina shake her head. "You can't be serious. What on earth can we do to turn the tides of this war?"

Howl straightened up and spoke in a tone that left no room for questioning. "You are the avatar, and you alone have the power to stop Amon. And you," he turned to Rohan. "You are an airbender, the only type of bending Equalists have not seen or dealt with before. The Equalists are strong, but their greatest strength is also their point of weakness. Their leader is the only one who can take away bending. We infiltrate Republic City, we take down their leader, and then we will bring in the forces from the North Pole."

"You're kidding." Seina's voice was flat, and Rohan felt himself agreeing with her.

"I'm not," How's voice was gentle but firm. "We have a much larger force than the Equalists know. We've fed them false information about the tribes, and some strategic truths to throw them off our trail." He smiled, but the humor didn't quite reach his eyes. "Many of us are registered as dead or as Missing in Action. The minute the Equalists spread their war, we started recruiting. We don't have the mechanical advantage to take them on head to head, but with you two we may be able to knock them down from the knees."

It seemed half baked. It seemed absurd. It seemed completely impossible for two teenagers to be the key pieces in overcoming a decades long war.

But somehow, it gave him hope. They finally had something to work towards, to strive for.

"Alright," Rohan felt himself say slowly. "What exactly do we need to do?"

For the first time, Rohan saw a real smile on the older man's face. "First, you must train. You must learn to master airbending, since your attacks will be most likely to incapacitate Equalists untrained against airbending. The avatar must master the four elements and the avatar state before she can face Amon."

Seina's eyes lit up. "Do I get to learn metalbending now?"

"So eager, young child." The older earthbender smiled. "First, we must start with earthbending."

* * *

Earthbending didn't take long. As Rohan sat at the edge of the room reading scrolls and histories of the ancient Air Temples, Seina and Penga went through the basic earthbending stances and the older lady remained impressed. Once in a while she would laugh and say that she recognized a stance or move from her old classmate.

"Oh, Ho Tun. He hasn't changed that attack in years. He used to use it on me when I annoyed him-he would pull the earth to restrain me without hurting me. He was so much larger than me at the time."

Penga was more optimistic than most about this war. She smiled and chatted with the Avatar as they went through bending exercises, and talked about everything from the compound to earthbending to shoes.

Especially shoes.

"How can you survive wearing such footwear?" She was saying to an uncomfortable looking avatar. "Those boots look so large and uncomfortable!"

"Umm," Seina had a slightly pinched look on her face, but she hid it well enough when she looked down at her feet. "These have worked well for me for a long while."

"Yes, but it's tough to sense in thicker shoes." She grinned. "Or shoes at all for that matter."

"Sense?"

"Yes, sense. Toph Bei Fong perfected the unique talent of seismic sensing to overcome her blindness. With it, she could use her earthbending to see through her hands and feet." Penga put a wrinkled hand on the wall. "I am not as good at it as she or her daughter was, but I can tell that this wall is about two feet thick." She stomped a foot covered by a thin slipper on the ground. "And I can tell that Hanook is in the kitchen sleeping, when he was supposed to be cutting vegetables."

Rohan snickered and Seina looked impressed. "Can you teach me that?"

Penga nodded. "You will have to learn it if you wish to be able to metalbend. You will need to be completely unbendable, and sense everything around you as if you are the center of it all. Everything is made up of some particles of earth, the trick is being able to see them."

"Okay," Seina moved into a bending stance as Rohan sank lower on the bench, immersing himself in the scrolls. "Let's do this."

Two hours later, Rohan was just finishing up the scrolls he was given and Seina was still in the middle of the atrium, practicing her sensing and metalbending and trying to move a small disc a couple of feet away. Penga had left some time prior, sauntering towards the kitchens to harass the napping waterbender.

"Augh, I can't do this!" she growled out in frustration, sinking down to sit cross legged on the ground. She bent up a piece of earth and shredded it into a fine dust, scattering it out in front of herself and huffing.

"Can't do what?" Rohan sat up and placed the last scroll next to him, careful to keep the ancient texts from falling on the floor.

"Can't metalbend!" She sounded so upset that Rohan immediately knew that it was not borne solely out of her inability to master difficult bending moves. Like him, she had just left her entire life and family behind only one day prior. He made to open his mouth, but she continued. "Can't sense the earth. Can't be unbendable!"

"Well I know that's not true."

Her head snapped towards him then and he swallowed, regretting not thinking his words through before speaking. _Oh well, too late for that now. _"I mean, you stood up to me and Howl when we showed up at your door, even when you thought we were Equalists. Then you threatened to turn yourself in to the Equalists to keep your mother safe. I think that's pretty unbendable to me."

The expression on her face morphed from frustration to confusion to something else that Rohan couldn't quite place. He found himself staring as her mouth narrowed into a thin line and she gave him a small nod, standing up again.

She widened her stance into a common earthbending pose and raised her arms, palms outward and facing the small disc. She shifted her feet and twisted, moving more like a waterbender than the rigid punch-and-thrust techniques so common with earthbending. Her hands moved back towards her middle, as if calling the earth to meet her.

Sweat broke out on her brow as she shifted to the other side to mirror her movements. Rohan found himself completely transfixed, unable to look away. Finally, the disc quivered and jumped, rolling over to Seina's feet and promptly falling back flat with a loud clunk. She stared at the disc, reaching down to run a finger around the rough edges.

Suddenly, a huge grin broke out on her face. She turned to Rohan then, still beaming and her eyes bright like orchid buds during the first spring dew. He noticed how green her eyes were-his mother had told him once that he was born with green eyes, but they had faded to gray by the time he turned two. He had never thought much of it before, but the absolute joy in her expression had his stomach twisting with something akin to jealousy.

But after their arguments and constant bickering during the ride from Ba Sing Se and at the White Lotus compound, it made his heart feel lighter that they had finally bonded over something. Instead of the tentative conversations of two people thrown together by chance and circumstance, this was something real.

And it made him think that maybe, just maybe, another couple of months in this compound wouldn't be so bad.

**A/N: Yay long developmental chapters! I'm sorry this story is slow to get going, I promise it won't stay that way for long. I have a lot of exciting things planned, and I hope you stay along for the ride :)**

**Penga and Ho Tun are both from The Promise Parts 1 and 2. They were part of Toph's original metalbending class.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Before I start, I just want to give a huge THANK YOU to everybody who has reviewed this story! Unsurprisingly, AU's revolving around a character that had about one minute of screentime fall kind of in the dark side of the Korra fandom. I respond to the reviews when I can, but I just want to give a shoutout to all the anons who have kept me motivated and given me ideas for the story. You guys are the best!**

Another couple of months in this compound, and Rohan was going to go mad.

It wasn't that he wasn't enjoying learning about his people. He was. He read about the ancient Airbending traditions and about how his father had tried to revive them in a peaceful Republic City. He read about elaborate temples and lively festivals and sky bison. He even read about the upside down air temple in the west, south of the Fire Nation, and could only hope that the Equalists had not found it yet.

But practicing airbending by himself and reading scrolls in a cramped underground camp was completely stifling. The only wind currents that came through were early in the morning and late at night, when the temperature shifted in the tunnels. Otherwise, the compound was completely sedate, and the air still and heavy.

At least Seina had people to train her and a schedule to keep to. She was busy learning firebending and practicing metalbending, and when she wasn't tearing up the atrium she was busy reading and learning about the avatar's spiritual history. She was probably happy as a clam, burrowing underground and being able to fully master her bending.

Not like he had seen much of her, Rohan mused. They had struck up a sort of uneasy friendship, but rarely ever talked outside of mealtimes. When they did speak, he was at first surprised by her fierce opinions of the Equalist movement and her compassion for the people involved. Living in the countryside, he had learned to simply keep his head down and ignore it. But living in a city, she must have been exposed to it day in and day out.

It was later that night when they were able to have one of their rare conversations between bending training and lessons. They had been learning about the history that sparked the Equalist Revolution, and they continued a conversation about it long after the adults had retired to bed.

"They treat bending like a weapon, something that needs to be confiscated. They have no idea what bending really is!" she was saying. They were both slumped against the atrium wall, exhausted from practice after dinner. The lights were flickering low and any captured sunlight was long absent.

"What really is bending, then?" he asked. She gave him a look, equal parts annoyance and disbelief.

"A part of us. It's a skill, something that we can train to be better at. A tool, something we can use to make our way in the world. We are born with bending like somebody else may be born with a gift for swordplay or building. It's a spiritual connection, and when it's gone people aren't often left with much else!"

"I knew a few people taken away in my village. When they returned they seemed...hollow, somehow. They would get better though, and they were able to function without bending."

"I'm not saying that they're actually left with nothing else." She blew her bangs away from her face in frustration. "But it's like blinding somebody, you have to make up for a permanent loss."

Rohan was curious, and he also happened to enjoy soliciting Seina's opinion about these subjects. Even if she did get angry with him. "I agree with you, obviously I do. Taking away somebody's bending is wrong, just as chopping off a woodcutters hands is wrong. But do you think we should return to what Republic City was before?"

"You mean a city run by a council from the four nations?" she asked, citing from Howl's lectures about history from the previous week. He nodded and she scrunched up her nose in thought. "I'm not sure. Obviously non-benders were at an inherent disadvantage with a city run by four benders. But with a city full of Satomobiles and starting to be powered by generators instead of firebenders, it sounds like they were levelling the playing field, not being stomped on."

"I suppose," Rohan felt the need to interject. "But what about the triads? They didn't listen to the council. It's like by being a non-bender, you had to be either really rich or you were completely taken advantage of."

She frowned. "The triads were wrong too. But wasn't it the same being a bender? You either had to be really powerful and rich, or else you were also taken advantage of. Think of the firebenders in the plant or the earthbenders who built the houses!"

Rohan chewed his lip in thought. "I guess that's true. It's hard to change things around when people have been operating on their own for years. Even in the other cities, people were usually able to take care of themselves."

"But it's necessary. Once you start introducing electrically run carriages and city provided heat to every house, you can't play by the same rules."

"Isn't that what the triads were doing? Playing by their own rules?"

"And they were wrong. Just like the Equalists are wrong. You can't make up your own rules unless people agree to them. At least that's what the council in Republic City was trying to do, even if they were doing it poorly."

"Well what would you have done?" Rohan asked, truly curious to hear her response. She gave him a lopsided grin.

"You first."

"I'm not as experienced in city politics as you are," he shot a teasing smile back. "I would not outlaw bending, obviously. But I don't think I'd outlaw chi blocking either. A weapon that is permanently attached to one's self is hard to defend against, so self defense should have been more regularly taught."

"Like in school?"

"Right," he nodded. "In school." He scowled. "I'd have preferred to learn self defense over that Equalist propaganda they shoved down our throats."

She patted his arm in understanding. "I know, I think that would have been good too." She paused, turning back towards the center of the room and her eyes focusing on nothing in particular. "I would abolish the idea of the four nations being represented on the council."

"Really? Why?"

"Because it's silly! Who are the four nation representatives representing, anyway? Everybody in Republic City was living together under a new culture, not in the old nations. I would have the representatives be both benders and non-benders, and be representing different sections of the city."

"Different sections of the city..." Rohan absentmindedly drew circles into the dirt of the atrium floor. "Like the rings in Ba Sing Se?"

"Exactly!" She seemed pleased that he brought up her hometown. "Before the Equalists took over, the council was always only representing the upper ring. Once the Equalists instituted their own government, they only represented their own ideas." She frowned. "I want every person, no matter how poor or weak or young, to be able to have a voice."

He heard a tired longing in her voice and wondered, again, how many times it had been beaten into her that she was only the daughter of a merchant in the lowest ring. It seemed unfair to him to have such a fate bestowed upon you by luck of birth.

"That sounds like it might actually work." Rohan tried to sound neutral, but a bit of admiration crept into his voice.

She gave him a bright smile. "You think so?"

He nodded earnestly. "I do. I really hope we can pull this whole thing off so you can try."

She sighed and leaned back against the wall, the mention of the ongoing war sobering them both. "I do too. I've almost got firebending down, but I can't help but feel like I'm not doing anything fast enough." She lowered her voice. "All these lessons and exercises are driving me nuts!"

"I'd advise you two get some rest soon," Howl's voice interrupted them, echoing down the hallway before they saw his shadow fall across the dirt. Seina clamped her mouth shut and looked embarrassed, causing Rohan to snicker. She shot him a glare as Howl continued. "You will both be trying airbending tomorrow

"Airbending?" Seina asked, straightening up and turning towards the figure in the door frame. "But I haven't mastered firebending yet!"

"Not yet, no," Howl conceded. "But Avatar Aang also didn't master the elements before starting to learn new ones. Like him, we don't have time on our sides." He spread his hands, looking for once as unsure of the situation as the two teenagers. "Mastering the elements in the right order helps you connect with the spiritual side of the Avatar, but it is more important to learn them in the right order. Since you have started firebending, we can continue your lessons while moving on to air."

"Am I supposed to teach airbending now?" Rohan asked, feeling a little bit sick at the thought. "I've hardly been able to master half of the scrolls you've given me!"

Howl chuckled at that. "You don't need to worry about teaching more complicated moves yet." He turned back down the hallway, the words bouncing back over his shoulder. "Tomorrow, we will start slowly."

* * *

Starting out slowly, it turned out, was a bit of an understatement. The next morning, Rohan found himself in meditation exercises where he wasn't allowed to move at all.

It was maddeningly dull. He felt like an imposter of an airbender to even think such a thing, but how his ancestors could stand sitting down with only their thoughts for hours completely baffled him. He was active by nature, always darting place to place like the mountain wind that ran through their small farm. From what few accounts he had, his grandfather had been similar. Aang was a busy man, spending much of his time travelling even after Republic City was founded. It wasn't until much later in his life that he took up a more permanent residence in the city.

Fewer accounts existed of his father. According to the official records, Tenzin was a calm and respected councilman. But, unlike with the avatar, there were no records of what he was like outside of his professional life. Or what he was like as a father.

Rohan exhaled, pushing the air through his teeth like he was whistling. He hoped that meditation would be easier when he wasn't trapped in such a stale environment-the air felt like a heavy blanket on his shoulders, keeping him short tempered and groggy. Perhaps when he was above ground again, basking in the winds that snaked through the Earth Kingdom during the autumn season, he would find this more relaxing.

Though he doubted that. Even in his own element, he couldn't imagine this exercise being any less cumbersome.

Not to mention Seina, who was completely surrounded by her element, was having just as much trouble with it as he was. She was better at hiding it, of course. If he hadn't been stuck in a cramped compound with her for two months he wouldn't have been able to see the small signs that she was uncomfortable. The twitching of her left eye, even though it was closed. The way she subtly rocked back and forth, trying to keep her back straight. The way she would scrunch her nose and blow her bangs out of her face, even though there was no wind to disturb them.

And then, of course, there were the obvious signs. "Why are we doing this again?" she ground out, opening one eye to give an impressive glare at the older firebender, who was lounging across the wooden bench to their right.

"Because airbending, like firebending, is about the breathing and about control," Reika replied, not looking up from her supine position on the bench. Rohan could hear the smile in her voice, and it annoyed him further.

"Do you ever meditate?" he asked, trying and failing to sound less frustrated than he was.

"I meditate at sunrise, young airbender," was the reply. "I can wake you up to meditate with me then, if you like."

Rohan closed his eyes again. "No, that's alright." He breathed deeply, trying to find that inner peace that the firebender had been going on and on about. But no matter what he did, his thoughts kept crowding his mind about the war and his airbending and the stagnant air around him.

_Maybe that's not the problem._ He was trying to keep himself from thinking about the air, but maybe he had to embrace that instead. He exhaled slowly, forcing himself to focus solely on the air in his lungs. The air around him was heavy, but not completely still. He felt the currents and puffs of breath from the two other benders around him, and he could almost see the tiny waves of air lapping against the sides of the compound.

And then suddenly, as if he had dove headfirst into the ocean, his awareness of the air around him expanded out like a wave. It settled on him like a blanket, warm and comforting instead of stale and stifling. He saw it fill up every nook, every crevice of the room, curling slightly around any obstacles and swaying back and forth like water.

He took a breath, grabbing hold of a tendril of wind that slipped in through one of the sunlit holes in the ceiling, riding it down into the room, where it dispersed and settled. He finally understood how the airbenders could stand meditation for so long-focusing on all the air around him was as thrilling as riding Seina's shirshu through the rocky countryside!

It was Seina's gasp that broke him from his reverie. She had unwittingly leaned back, toppling over like a polar bear dog just learning to walk. She scrambled to right herself as Rohan chuckled, pointedly ignoring her glare.

"Maybe we should try some basic airbending, now." To her credit, the firebender kept her tone completely serious. But Rohan swore he saw her lips turn up.

"Good idea," the younger girl muttered, standing up and dusting the dirt off her pants.

Reika stood up as well, circling around to stand in front of the two teenagers and sinking into a casual bending stance. "I know little of airbending," she conceded, looking at Rohan in particular. "But many control techniques for firebending and airbending are the same. Unlike with water and earth, bending fire and air requires something you may not be able to see, but you need to sense and feel." She turned towards the young avatar. "Your metalbending training may be useful here, as well."

"Why my metalbending training?"

"The ability to sense what you cannot see is critical for firebending and airbending. Firebending draws from an inner strength and control, and airbending requires an awareness and manipulation of the element around us. How would you explain it, Rohan?"

Rohan started at the question, not expecting to be teaching airbending yet. Teaching anything when he wasn't a master himself seemed strange. "Well," he began tentatively. "Air is kind of...slippery."

Seina turned towards him, expression neutral but her words flat. "Slippery?" she deadpanned, and he flushed in embarrassment.

"Yes, slippery. Like ice, or fish." He grit his teeth and wished that he had one ounce of the mysterious, wise demeanor of the air sages he had read about. If he did, then the petulant little earthbender wouldn't be so curt with him. "You're manipulating something you don't normally feel. You have to focus on your breath, and try to create the same response with your hands."

"Think about your meditation," the firebender added. "And then let your body go through the forms we practised."

The avatar nodded and sunk her stance, twisting into what Rohan recognized as an airbending form. He mirrored her movements, watching her for any inconsistencies in her forms. At one point her elbow dipped down low, probably into a subconscious earthbending stance, and he prodded it up. She spared him a scowl before continuing.

It was nearly thirty minutes later, with them both going through airbending forms, that she stopped in frustration. "This is absurd!" She stomped a foot on the ground, which reverberated slightly. Rohan rolled his eyes-_earthbenders_. "How are these forms supposed to help me bend? I haven't moved a single wisp of air!"

"Try centering your focus on yourself, instead of bending." Rohan tried to think back to when he first figured out he could bend. "Match your breathing to your movements, and try to feel the wind on your arm. Then just...extend it. Think of it as a part of you, instead of something separate."

She snorted, resuming her stance. "Alright, let's do this then."

Rohan shot her a glare, but she had already started the exercise again. This time, when her hand extended a small puff of air moved forward, leaving wisps of dirt

"Very good!" Reika clapped her hands together. Seina looked at her hand like it might bite her.

"That's it?" She shifted her gaze to Rohan, who shrugged.

"Maybe it's harder underground." It certainly had been for him. Stagnant air seemed heavy and harder to move.

The girl let out a huff of air, turning back to the still smiling firebender. "I don't care if it's harder underground." She gained that stubborn look that always made Rohan wary. "I'm not leaving this spot until I can do this properly."

* * *

Despite her promise, Seina did move from that spot-many hours later, when it was dark and cold and everyone else besides Rohan had gone to bed. He had shot her an encouraging smile, but she just shook her head and sighed, heading towards her quarters.

The next month progressed slowly, with similar slow steps in airbending training. A puff of wind here, a wisp there. Seina soon started waterbending training in the evenings, which took away any chance of them continuing their late night conversations.

Rohan found he missed the chance to talk to her outside of their lessons. As odd as it was, they had forged a friendship from being stuck underground together-both trapped in destinies beyond their control.

It wasn't until a chilly autumn day over a month later when their routine changed. When everything changed.

It had started out nice enough.

The autumn air was bringing fresh, cool air into the caverns. The morning was bright enough that the small amount of sunlight captured by the mirrors in the ceiling lit up the compound. And when Rohan had woken up to begin his meditation and exercises, Howl had stopped by with a surprise.

"A stick?"

"A staff," he had corrected, holding the offending object out. On second glance, Rohan noticed that there were carved indents in the side, ending in a slight flare at the top. It reminded him of the oak stick he had been using for weapons training. The staff, presented to him by Penga as a bō, worked well with his airbending moves but could similarly be a weapon on its own.

"Is it a weapon?"

"It's both a weapon and a tool." Howl held it out and pressed a spot on the side of the staff, which suddenly sprouted two sets of thinly clothed wings to turn into a glider. Rohan stilled.

"Am I supposed to use that?" he asked, reaching out and carefully tracing the staff down one side. The membrane on the glider was thin and translucent, but held strong under his touch.

Howl nodded. "Your father and grandfather both learned to use their airbending to allow them to travel with the glider. With it, you can fly great distances."

He was going to learn how to fly on that? Rohan inhaled sharply, excitement building up in his bones. "When do I learn to use it?"

"Unfortunately, you can't learn now, since using it outdoors will surely get you spotted." The older man gave him an apologetic smile. "But, with your grandfather's blood running through your veins, you shouldn't find it hard to pick up. You've read the histories, you know how Avatar Aang learned how to fly almost as soon as he could walk."

Rohan held the staff reverently, feeling the solid oak give only slightly under his hands. It had similar weight to his bō, he noticed, as he quickly shifted through the steps of a training exercise. He straightened up and gave a slight bow to the older man.

"Thank you," he said earnestly. "I will start practicing with it right away."

Howl chuckled. "Not quite yet, young Rohan. First Master Reika wants you and Seina both in the atrium for meditation."

Rohan felt his excitement ebbing at the mention of meditation. He enjoyed it for the first several minutes, but when Reika would push them up to an hour he started to get bored. And he knew Seina would start to get fidgety after the first five minutes, which only made it worse.

The aforementioned earthbender shot him a tired glance as he entered the atrium. She had been up far earlier than him, practicing her firebending with the sunrise. He didn't envy her.

Rohan sat down heavily beside her, assuming his normal meditation pose without a second thought. Legs crossed, hands fisted and brought together, eyes closed. Sometimes when he meditated, he felt like someone else.

He slowly exhaled, spreading his awareness out through the cavern, riding on the tiny wind currents to the crevices of the atrium. He paused briefly at the puffs of air that Seina created when she exhaled, and then noticed the steady air currents coming through the shifting rocks on the west side of the compound.

Wait...shifting rocks?

Rohan's eyes shot open as the rumbling grew louder. The firebender was already on her feet, shouting something unintelligible down the hallway before rushing back to the side of the compound, where small bits of dirt had started to fall off of the wall onto the ground.

Penga came sprinting out of the hallway at record pace before skidding to a halt next to the other woman. She placed a small hand on the rock wall, closing her eyes and stomping her feet lightly. Not a second later, she pulled away from the wall as if it had stung her.

"They're here."

"How many?"

The older earthbender closed her eyes again. "Twenty. Plus two mechatanks. They're coming fast."

"Then we must hurry."

Rohan felt Seina stand up beside him and shifted closer to her. She looked slightly pale, and her hands were curled into tight fists.

The last two White Lotus sentries came running out from the second hallway, Howl holding a long curved sword and Hanook strapping on two waterskins. Howl stopped next to the two teenagers, while Hanook rushed forward to stand with Reika. She gave him a curt nod and he turned around. "We'll hold them off." He motioned to the remaining four standing in the middle of the room. "You must go."

Penga stepped back quickly to fall beside Howl, who put a gentle hand on Rohan's back to push him towards the far hallway. Rohan hesitated. "You can't stay behind!" He said, insistent. "They outnumber you!"

Hanook gave him a twisted smile and a wink. "You think this is our first tussle, kid? We'll be okay, but you need to go now!"

Rohan didn't get a chance to argue further, as Howl grabbed him by the wrist and started sprinting out of the large room. Next to him, he saw Penga and Seina doing the same. As they ran, Rohan swiped his staff from where it was leaning against the atrium wall.

They ran-well, Howl ran and Rohan was dragged-down the short hallway. The far wall was coming closer and closer and Rohan started to dig in his feet to slow their pace when Howl showed no intention of stopping. As they kept running, he threw up an arm around his head to shield himself from the eventual impact-

-that never came. Penga leapt forward and raised the wall and pushed out the surrounding earth into a narrow tunnel. Behind them, he could hear the first sounds of the Equalists attacking the atrium. He heard Hanook's shout and Reika's cry fade into the distance as they kept pushing forward, Penga and Seina molding the earth around them to climb slowly up and out of the mountain.

They worked their way forward into the mountain, and Rohan lost count of the number of his own heartbeats he could hear pulsing through his ears. Time seemed to stretch on forever, his feet like molasses, even though they moved as quickly as they could. Finally, the tunnel flattened out and Penga threw out her arm to halt them. She raised both hands and, face twisted in concentration, lifted a large chunk of earth to reveal a narrow passage leading out of the mountain.

Howl pushed the two teenagers through first. Rohan took a breath of fresh air and felt himself calm a little, despite the danger. They were about twenty feet up on a mountain cliff, with small pathways jutting out to their left and right, and he could feel the wind pulsing around him like a second skin.

An unmistakable shout came from further down the passage. Howl turned slightly towards the noise, and took a step back.

"No..." Rohan felt himself saying, though he knew what was coming next.

"We have no choice," Howl said, unsheathing his sword and turning back towards the tunnel, where the footsteps were growing louder. "You two must go on, and we will help hold them off. Master Hanook and Master Reika will be waiting for us."

"But what are we supposed to do? Where will we go!" Seina's voice was high pitched and wavering with fear, and it unnerved Rohan to see her so scared.

Howl turned over his shoulder to look at them, eyes sympathetic. He dipped his head slightly in a bow, a slight smile crossing his lips as the earthbending master stepped back to join him.

"Your destiny lies in Republic City."

With that, he stepped back and Penga brought her arms down in a sharp cutting movement. The mountainside moved, rocks falling vertically to crumble on top of each other and seal up the small exit that they had crawled through only moments before. When the rubble cleared, they were staring at nothing but an indistinguishable stone wall, the distant cry of birds the only sound cutting through the complete silence.

**A/N: And, all of a sudden, we have a plot.**

**Holy crap this is a long chapter. Sorry for the wait, this one has been giving me far too much grief! I know it was kind of an oddly paced chapter, but it was a transition into the larger story arc I have planned. From here on out, it's going to be a very fast paced story up until the finale. Hold tight!**

**Reviews are loved and cherished. **


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